baby rambutan

have you? had red velvet cake? have you been curious about it at all?
(more…)

The Birthday?
our fat little furry cat has turned 4. still as finicky as ever–we’ve had a helluva time finding canned food that he’ll actually eat up, instead of us scraping them off all dried up and shriveled from the bowl.
for now, it’s anything sliced, never ground, not pate, nothing minced! AND, Fancy Feast only.

fancy cat. HRH, Emperor BaoBao, Jack Bauer, Napoleon of Maine, and Massachusetts. fancy cat food for him, brownie, a la mode, for us (kid-suggested King Arthur Flour brownies + Breyer’s extra creamy vanilla ice cream).

and the crepe-y fail i am writing about, only to appeal to anyone out there, yoo hoo, help?!, with a friendly recipe for Saigon sizzling crepes (banh xeo). it is a savory crepe made of rice flour, turmeric, curry and coconut milk, filled with ground pork, mushrooms, shrimp and bean sprouts.

it’s just that the memory of the first bite i had, many many years ago, cooked by a co-teacher’s Vietnamese student, is so tugging at my heartstrings, and belly, that i long to replicate it at home.

mine was a complete and utter disaster, which my family courageously attempted to eat, out of pure love i think…i snatched away the platter after seeing their politeness dissolving into grimaces.
could it be because i used a bit of mung bean flour in the crepe batter? ( saw an online recipe which included steamed/mashed mung beans–it looked delicious!)
hmmm, i am retreating from this challenge for a while, and ordering a take-out portion from my friendly neighborhood pho place for now.
a successfully cooked crepe, and tips for its creation, is pictured here.
my #2son was very wary, suspicious, no! he was outright scared!– the next day when he saw me opening up the Vietnamese cookbooks once more.
“er… more Vietnamese experiments, mom??”

i decided to shine the spotlight on the chocolate cake i mentioned in the previous post–it got overwhelmed by my being so chef-starstruck, and it really does deserve its own post.

this is currently The One, yes i have it on good authority: the cake we will bake for when we are chocolate-deprived.
plus, it’s got that Good Housekeeping seal of approval (latest issue on newsstands).
cake layers:
2 c. all purpose flour
1c. unsweetened cocoa
1 1/2 tsp.baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 c. butter (1 & 1/2 sticks), softened
1 c. packed brown sugar
1 c. granulated sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 c. low-fat buttermilk

frosting:
1/3 c. unsweetened cocoa
1/3 c. boiling water
1 c. butter (2 sticks), softened
2 tbsp. confectioners’ sugar
12 oz. semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled

1. prepare cake layers: preheat oven to 350ºF, grease three8-inch round cake pans. line bottoms with waxed paper; grease paper. dust pans with flour.

2. on another sheet of waxed paper, combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. in large bowl, with mixer at low speed, beat butter and brown and granulated sugars until blended. increase speed to high; beat 5 minutes or until pale and fluffy. occasionally scraping bowl with spatula. reduce speed to medium-low; add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. beat in vanilla until blended. add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. beat just until batter is smooth, occasionally scraping bowl with rubber spatula.

3. spoon batter evenly among prepared pans. if necessary, stagger pans on 2 oven racks, placing 2 on upper rack and 1 on lower rack, so that top pans are not directly above bottom one. bake 22 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. with small knife loosen layers from sides of pans; invert onto wire racks. carefully remove and discard waxed paper; cool completely about 45 minutes.

prepare frosting:
in small bowl combine cocoa and boiling water, stirring until smooth. in large bowl with mixer at medium-high speed, beat butter and confectioners’ sugar 5 minutes or until fluffy. reduce speed to medium-low. add melted chocolate then cocoa mixture, beating until smooth and occasionally scraping bowl with rubber spatula. if frosting is too runny, refrigerate until just stiff enough to spread.

assemble cake:
place 1 cake layer bottom side up on cake plate; spread with 1/3 cup frosting. top with second layer, bottom side up; spread with another third cup of frosting. place remaining layer bottom side up on top. spread remaining frosting over sides and top of cake. (you may have to trim the tops off of the cake to make them even..i used a serrated knife.)

sometimes the path from “A” to “B” takes some convoluted twists and turns. the craving was for lobsters…as in $2.99 per pound medium size lobsters–i kid you not! the price was too low as to be worrisome…we haven’t seen prices like these since we were teenagers, and we’re talking Maine, straight-from-the-dock prices! good-luck-to-the-lobstermen kind of prices…–
but to get to that, first i had to have chocolate cake.
of the three-layer-punch-in-the-face variety.
i take my job really seriously you know, the job of checking out chocolate cake or brownie recipes that tout themselves to be the best.
now, i’ve proclaimed that i won’t buy any more new cookbooks or food magazines at all. but i forgot that i did subscribe to two family oriented magazines last year, to support my kid’s public school.
when the first issue arrived, the first thing i noticed was the purported “best chocolate cake recipe ever!” which i dutifully decided had to be put to the test.


i was tempted to stop icing the cake right then, and eat the rest of the frosting straight up with a soup spoon….

but i had good self-control. for a change.

then i had to hie off to the newly opened fish mongers at the 4th edition of summer shack. it is a New England institution by now, Jasper White’s humble down home chain of restaurants that evoke hearty New England chowders and lobster bakes. we went to the original location in Cambridge years ago for a mothers’ day dinner–it is so memorable to me because it was the weekend before i’d have to find out if a lump on my leg was something to worry about or not (NOT, as it turned out)…so i was determined to have a great good time.
the food was divine, and i remember sharing a broiled lobster platter with my then 2-year old youngest child, and the fish lumpia (spring rolls) that were so terrific we had to order more.
this 4th franchise has a fish store, and our first peek last weekend the fish monger whispered that there’d be a sale on lobsters, this weekend.
there i was, buying, incredulously at $2.99 a pound…”give me FOUR!” wheee….i was almost in a diabetic shock state from hunger, having just swum 30 lengths at the pool, having just popped a cracker dipped in fish pate from the sample counter, having just walked out to try and get a nice takeaway lunch from the supermarket round the corner…when i literally walked into the towering gent, the what, 6 foot 4 inch tall– the one and only Jasper White himself, seeing some dining customers out the door.
“murrrmpphffaffff!”
i tried to swallow the mouthful of cracker.
“how nice to see you! i’m a fan!” i know, so lame….
he graciously, gallantly shook my hand, laughing,” happy new year!”


i swear, he was right there!

ask me about the chocolate cake recipe, which was fabulous! i’m still too stunned right now….

i have resolved (and i must stress i’m not one to make, much less proclaim out loud, publicly, New Year’s Resolutions)…to stop buying cookbooks and food magazines.
so it was excruciating to accompany the kids to the Big Bookstore to cash in their gift cards. i had to really restrain myself. sigh. you know what i did? i lingered at the magazine aisle and committed to my failing memory the dishes that i would google at home. success! nyahaha-haha. here’s The One That I Remembered.

it took me an awfully long time to make this. at first i couldn’t understand why i seemed to be so hesitant to get going, then i figured it out…this is so hard to translate! i had to convert the measurements first…if you have a food scale at home i recommend you use it, but if not, i’ve noted the volume measures as best as i can. NO guarantee though, sorry!


it was a very lovely end to our “Peking Duck” dinner, and i would definitely make it again especially since clementines are busting out all over. i’m thinking of exchanging the fresh chopped ginger for candied ones though, just to mute the flavor a tiny bit.

…and your problem is ??? me, get off the placemat? moi?
the recipe? (more…)

something sweet and something spicy to welcome to the new year.
every new year’s eve it seems now i’ve served fondue to the kids whether they like it or not. i don’t know why i love it so, maybe it’s the crackling little flame under the fondue pot? the interactivity and suspense of keeping your dipper in your fondue fork? but i got another electric one so we can have both cheese and chocolate fondue…i think the three had had enough rich food over Christmas dinners that they sort of groaned when i announced the fondue plans. i said, don’t worry, children, it will be a little bit different.

i chose a cheddar cheese mix with red bell peppers and jalapeno, for dipping with bread & ham cubes, tortilla chips,
fresh and cooked vegetables.

i also made spiced beef so that the #1son could opt for tacos–he who seemed reluctant to partake of melted cheese.
as midnight approached i melted the chocolate and chopped up bananas, rinsed the strawberries and cubed the brown butter pound cake.

ahhh! i suddenly remembered my ma’s “bruun cake(?)” that she used to prepare whenever she got a hold of this special canned butter, from Denmark maybe? the method of melting the butter until the milk solids turn dark brown, then freezing to congeal, then mixing with eggs and sugar, and flour, made the butter flavor so deep and profound and caramelly, just perfect with the dripping semisweet/bittersweet chocolates, and for eating for breakfast, this New Year’s Day.

i hope you had a loud and raucous Eve! did you remember to jump at the stroke of midnight?!

a fabulously lavish, superYUMMY Christmas!

there were so many things i wanted to spell out, but for the first batch i settled on “yummy!”, buttery sables with a caramel glaze. just poifect with milky tea i think!

i waited a long time before i could get this truly special cookie cutter. i’ve had my eye on this ever since i saw them from a food blogger/cookbook author’s website from, where else, Germany.

i want to say thank you to you, the loyal visitors to this silly little foodblog. i know i haven’t been posting as much as i did before, and it’s a reflection of how my life is going these days.
i can’t bear to neglect baby rambutan though, it is still very dear.

anyway, the other day i heard this song which was a welcome break from all the Christmas carols playing everywhere i go. made me want to put on my boogie shoes.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

someone else’s table, that is.

this year the Family had their Thanksgiving dinner at husband’s niece’s home, and she did a wonderful job with her first 20-lb. turkey, ever. so gracious indeed, we had a great time and my kids loved hanging out with their cousins, playing ping pong well into the night.

the dessert table, left to right: pumpkin tart, Rosie’s Bakery chocolate mousse cake and toll house pie, Russian grandmother’s apple pie cake, whipped cream, a bowl of grapes, and Brigham’s ice creams.

Russian grandmothers’ apple pie cake is another dessert from Dorie Greenspan’s “Baking,” luscious Golden Delicious apple slices and golden raisins enveloped in a double crust of an almost cookie-cake-like batter. it was a bit of a gamble, seeing that i’d never done this before, but i was confident because everything i’ve made from Dorie Greenspan’s been a whopping success anyway.

what’s left, reserved for #1son.

recipe, upon request!

may i suggest for your Thanksgiving table…

Dorie Greenspan’s sour cream pumpkin tart?

it’s quite simple and easy to put together: pâte sablée crust–pressed! not rolled (flour, confectioners’ sugar, butter, egg yolk)–partially baked, then filled with a mix of pumpkin puree, sour cream, heavy cream, eggs, dark rum, then baked some more.
the flavor is deep and mellow and just perfect with coffee–that is if you’ve left some room in your tummy for dessert after all that food.
(recipe? if you insist! )

last weekend we were frustrated. our plan to go apple-picking at an orchard/winery west of Boston went awry, confounded by a late start and then atrocious traffic at the tolls of the Massachusetts Turnpike. (i wished i could have heard all the cursing from within the cars and trucks trying to get out!
i’m glad my kids didn’t hear my internal cursing!)
with ten minutes to spare we were not allowed to go apple-picking, so we decided to skedaddle out of there (with a few bottles of hard sparkling apple cider and one of mead–finally, i get to taste the honey wine i’ve often read about!) and went to another orchard…to buy a bag of Golden Delicious.

just perfect for baking tarte Tatin, based on a recipe from Dorie Greenspan’s “Baking” book.

i wouldn’t have done it, i would have opted for an easy apple cake (you know, chop up the apples, toss into a one-bowl batter), if not for my itch to try the puff pastry that Ms. Greenspan recommended: she said it’s so good, that she stopped making puff pastry herself! wow, that i just had to find.


it unfolded into an approximately 9 by 13 inch rectangle of dough, which i neglected to trim when i set it atop the caramelized apples. i just literally “cut corners” and tucked them willy-nilly all over the pan.

well, it didn’t really matter that much, because the tart had to be flipped. i almost broke my wrist, i swear that cast-iron pan is sooo heavy. but all’s well that ends well. the puff pastry? i’ve been converted! i will never buy the Other Brand which just turns out so nasty, greasy, gritty almost. Dufour’s is flaky, buttery, tender. i don’t have to sweat over the multiple folding and re-folding and back-and-forth trips to the refrigerator anymore, yippee-yehey!!

…just a scoop of vanilla ice cream, or a hot steaming cup of coffee, and whooosh, a heavenly treat for a crisp Fall afternoon.
or is it winter already? it sure feels like it, in this corner of the world.
maybe you’d like to try myFrench apple tart? apple cake? a cakey-style Tarte tatin? or our old standby, with Calvados?